Brian Palmer here. Last time I was with you, I talked about the importance of making sure your industry speakers know why they were invited, what you want them to do, what you want them to talk about and how you want their session to go.

Today I want to recommend that you provide your industry speakers with an opportunity to improve their presentation—some sort of a coach or an online tool. Skillshare has all sorts of public speaking classes that people can take. Make sure that people are going to be up to the task.

Industry speakers are often things that nobody else can give your attendees. So it’s wise to put some time and effort into telling them what you want them to do, but also give them some educational opportunities to make sure that they deliver a high quality product at your event.

Brian Palmer here. We get to see a great many speaker evaluations and commonly, people say things on there like, “I had never heard of this speaker before, but boy, was she good! That was the highlight of the conference.”

We’ve often suggested that people, when they’ve never heard of the speaker, are delighted when that speaker does a particularly good job. We think it’s wise to hire really good speakers who might not be well known. They tend to cost a great deal less and create a particularly happy audience.

Satisfaction is somewhat a function of expectations, and when expectations aren’t particularly high, audiences find themselves particularly satisfied. I heard about this study that was done: “On the road to happiness, a pleasant surprise beats a sure thing.” That was the Washington Post article about the study which essentially said that audiences are particularly delighted when they get an unexpected surprise. I’ve got a link to the article below. You might want to read it and make sure that when you hire no-name speakers, they’re really good and you will particularly delight your group.

MPI’s Magazine, The Meeting Professional, recently featured an article written by Brian Palmer, CMM, President of National Speakers Bureau.

In this piece, he puts forth the notion that a process to prepare speakers should be in place for everyone who is to present, even those who might be appearing as a favor or in support of their own cause. It remains your event, and the odds of their talk achieving your objectives go up when your management is consistent.

Contract riders have a lot more to do than with blue M&M’s. It’s usually a list of things that need to be in place that help the performer do his very best.

I think it’s a very good idea to have your own rider of sorts. You might not want to call it that, but I think it’s wise to have a list of things you want speakers to do and things you want to happen at your event – things based on history that will help the session go well, things like a speaker not talking about their books too much in their presentation or arriving at a certain time in the day. You can learn every time you book a speaker, refine that list, and implement it every time you book somebody new to increase the likelihood that your objectives are met.

Competition for the time and attention of business people is fierce as they are being asked to do more, often with less. They are more aggressively scrutinizing the uses of time and resources including consideration of events put on by associations and other membership organizations. Literature focusing on the evolution of the associations, their offerings, and their events, suggest this trend is not apt to abate. Developing and maintaining the reputation for excellent speakers will help increase the odds that people will return to and recommend your events year after year.

There are two misconceptions about choosing great speakers. The first should be viewed on a continuum: at one end is the belief that speakers should work within the industry being addressed. At the other are those that believe that the most value resides with bringing in outsiders, to provide a unique perspective. Everyone who has a part in selecting speakers is somewhere on that continuum. There are those who prefer not to listen to the ideas of someone who has not “walked in my shoes.” At the other end, there are those who wish to populate their learning experiences with the people on the other end who believe that they know just about all there is to know in their industry and want to get an outsider’s perspective. I often see associations getting pulled in either direction, largely due to the makeup of the group or community making the selection and often due to that one person who feels particularly strong. I’ve observed both types in action and believe that it’s wise to have your speakers from a variety of spots along the spectrum and not cluster them in one area.

The second misconception has to do with the notion that all presentations, the components of a meeting, should be interactive and that members don’t care to hear from a “talking head”. I draw from an excellent book by Susan Cain titled Quiet: The Power of Introverts, in which she argues that group projects and interactive sections can be veritable torture for the introverts that often make up 40% of the people in the room. I also infer from her book that it would be a mistake to take all the programming that you put on in that particular direction or format. Again, variety can improve the odds that your events positively impact a wide range of your attendees. Further, it would be wise to articulate the degree of interactivity that a particular session might have when people have a choice so that they can make a selection based on their temperament and, in the end, be satisfied with their experience.

And when it’s time to sign them up it should not be left to chance that they do what you want. Make sure you tell them what it was about their background and any presentations you might have seen that contributed to the decision to hire them, share them with them the objectives for your event, and how you would like them to contribute. Show them the targets you wish them to hit.So this reputation to provide excellent speakers cannot be left to chance. It is critical to have a disciplined process to collect and consider speakers for any particular event. The reason for the event, the objectives in place for it, and its target audience should be clear. Having a sound basis for decisions leads to better decisions. Without it, a “shopping instinct” often develops when people want to look at more and more waiting for something that strikes or “wows” them. Committees considering several dozen people over several weeks for a particular slot are not unheard of.

A recommendation: develop, refine and maintain a list of “deal points” that work well for your group and make those parts of the invitations you extend.

In 1969, BJ Thomas had a hit song, “Hooked on a Feeling.” Here at the National Speakers Bureau we have our own version of that song we’ve titled: “Booked On Feeling”…the feeling that someone will feel good and look good on a program, perhaps draw attention and attendance yet with relatively little consideration to how they will perform the day of your event. Don’t discount this notion…almost each day we have these kinds of conversations where people say things like, “I want people to say wow when they see my program”. That “driver” often leads to audience members saying something like, “Wow, that was bad” and harming the organizations reputation. That day at that session the speaker needs to BE good not just FEEL right. Someone’s ability to deliver a relevant, interesting, and somewhat entertaining message is as, if not more, important than the aforementioned feeling.

People are attracted to environments where they learn, arrive at new conclusions, and are reminded of things that are important to them. Consistently providing speakers and programming that contributes to these will, year after year, make your events more attractive, talked about, easier to market, and more successful.

Original article published by the Virginia Society of Association Executives Press, April 2013.

In this article, Dr. Bill Conerly gives useful advice: Connect the dots between the economy and business decisions when hiring an economist.

Economics Presentations

Providing actionable ideas for meeting attendees means that the economics presentation should sound different from cocktail party chat. When I get together with my neighbors, they ask about the next Federal Reserve chair and what Congress should do. For a meeting of business, non-profit or local government leaders, these topics are not actionable. Unless you have the President in your audience, have your speaker connect the economics to business decisions.

Help the presenter in advance by explaining your industry’s sales in terms of the major economic sectors: consumers, business and government. Talk about export markets or competition with imports. Describe the major costs faced in your industry.

With this background, an economist with business experience should be able to explain how the forecast will impact decisions about capital spending, staffing, finance and other critical issues. If your speaker is from academia or government, you might follow with a panel of industry leaders who are prepared to answer the question, “What are the business implications of this economic forecast?“

Connecting the dots from the economy to business decisions provides content that audience members can use as soon as they are back in the office.